On Monday, March 11, 2019, the newly elected UN Environment Executive Director Inger Andersen met with the Major Group Leads and Regional Representatives to UN Environment.

Previous UN Environment Assemblies and other international bodies have taken up the issue of plastic pollution, especially marine plastic litter and microplastics, recognizing it as an increasingly serious issue, which requires an urgent global response. The case against plastic has been gaining strength in the last few years

The closing session of the 2nd Science Policy Business Forum on March 10, 2019, moderated by Axel Threlfall of Reuters, offered highlights from presentations and discussions that had taken place during the two days of the Forum. Speakers from industry, education and civil society were invited to give two-minute overviews of various thematic topics.

For UNEA-4, Switzerland has proposed a resolution on geoengineering, the large-scale technological manipulation of the Earth’s oceans, soils, biosphere and atmosphere to counteract, dilute or delay some symptoms and impacts of climate change. Members of the Environmental Integrity Group (EIG), a negotiating bloc in the UNFCCC consisting of South Korea, Mexico, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Georgia, co-sponsored the resolution with a few other member-states including Burkina Faso, Federated States of Micronesia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Montenegro and New Zealand.

The Global Major Groups attended the first day of the Science-Policy-Business Forum that was organized as part of UNEA-4. Here is a glimpse of one of the sessions held on March 9, 2019.

Environmental and Health Impacts of Food Systems was the topic of a Science-Policy-Business Forum presentation supporting the 6th Global Environmental Outlook Report (GEO6). Introduced by Eddah Kaguthi, panelists included Lorenzo Giovanni Bellu of FAO, Isis Alvarez of Global Forest Coalition, Brett Rierson of World Food Programme, and Professor Andres Guhl of the University of the Andes. The panelists provided provocative presentations and engaged in a robust discussion with attendees following their opening remarks.

The theme of the 4th UN Environment Assembly, Innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production, highlights the importance of science and technology in the work of UN Environment. Science propels innovation, while the negative impacts of unsustainable production and consumption can only be effectively mitigated or reversed by decisive science-based leadership and policy making.

Speakers on Friday, March 8, the second and last day of the 18th Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum, highlighted issues of importance including the Aichi Biodiversity Targets maturing in 2020; a potential mismatch between the platforms for local communities and indigenous peoples intended by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties held in December 2018 in Katowice, Poland; climate justice and the dependence of indigenous peoples on their natural environment; and a perceived shift in priority from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for human rights to stronger investment in stakeholder interests.

On Thursday, March 7th, Global Major Groups and Stakeholders’ forum opened with a reflection on the situation for Major Groups and Stakeholders since the 3rd UN Environment Assembly to present with a look toward the future. This reflection continued into the afternoon before the breakout sessions with a focused discussion on the engagement at UNEA-4 by the MGS. Inviting a dialogue with the UN Environment Executive Director was another point of discussion by the Major Groups and Stakeholders.

UNEA daily monitor is powered by The Youth Cafe’s delegates attending the fourth UN Environment Assembly. The newsletter tracks the most important negotiations and events and delivers the daily news through the lense of young people.

On Monday, March 4th, the Open-Ended Committee of Permanent Representatives (OECPR) started its discussions and negotiations in preparation for the 4th UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-4)